


Colour Bath

by Eastofthemoon



Series: Something Familiar [5]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Cats, Familiars, Family Feels, Fluff, Friendship/Love, Gen, Humor, Magic, Team as Family, Witch AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-03
Updated: 2018-04-03
Packaged: 2019-04-17 21:32:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14198112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eastofthemoon/pseuds/Eastofthemoon
Summary: When a spell goes wrong, Allura discovers there is something harder than spell casting.  Trying to give her cats a bath!





	Colour Bath

**Author's Note:**

> I decided to write both for this AU and also write more for the Platonic VLD Week with today's theme being Colours/Darkness. Also, this whole AU is based off of the lovely artwork of [absolem0](http://absolem0.tumblr.com/tagged/witch%21allura) which I strongly recommend you all check out.

“Well..uh…,” Allura said as she scratched at her cheek, “the spell worked. Your fur is definitely dry.”

“Yes,” Coran said as he flipped the pages of the spellbook, “they are definitely dried.”

Her five cats did not seem to share the sentiment. After coming in from the rain dripping wet soaked to the bone, Allura thought it was the perfect chance to attempt a drying spell. It was a logical choice since it would be faster and more efficient than just fetching a towel.

Yet, Allura doubted a towel would have caused her cats’ fur to change colour. They each looked as if they had been dipped into a bucket of dye. 

Shiro’s fur was a bright purple and had red stripes on his back. Lance was blue with white patches around his eyes and the tip of his tail. Pidge’s fur had turned a blaring neon green, while Hunk as a mixture of orange and yellow in his fur. Lastly, Keith’s fur had turned into a fire red and yellow spots all over his fur that reminded Allura of a multicoloured leopard.

All of her cats blinked at her in stunned confusion.

“I don’t understand what I did wrong,” Allura said as she took the book from Coran. “I followed Father’s spell to the letter.”

Coran scratched his mustache and tapped the page. “Ah, this might be the problem. Says here there can be slight effects on animal fur over clothing.”

Allura blinked at the sentence and sighed as she spotted her father’s familiar handwriting. “Wish Father had made that clearer.”

Suddenly, Hunk shifted back into his human form. He tugged at his orange bangs as he glanced to the mirror on the wall. “Dang it,” he grumbled, “was hoping shifting would change my hair back.”

“Well, at least your skin colour didn’t change with it,” Coran said in encouragement.

Allura patted Hunk’s shoulder. “Perhaps try your lion form? Maybe it takes a few shifts?”

Hunk glanced to the others who seemed to nod in encouragement and he shrugged. “Worth a try.” 

In a blink of an eye, Hunk changed into his lion form, but all of Allura’s hopes were dashed. Instead of the golden yellow fur Hunk had in his lion form, his fur was the same orange as his current cat form, except his mane was bright pink. Hunk’s ears folded back as he pawed at his mane before he changed back.

“Nope, that didn’t work,” he grumbled.

Keith growled in annoyance and pawed at Allura’s dress.

“I know, I know,” Allura said as she turned the page, “I’m certain there's a way...Oh, well that’s easy.”

She grinned as she held up the book for her cats to see. “Apparently, all we have to do is to give you a bath. A few drops of lavender mixed in should do the trick.”

Suddenly, she heard the sound of small paws skidding on her hardwood floor. Confused, Allura lowered her book and noted she was now missing two cats.

“Where did Keith and Pidge go?” she asked.

Hunk gave a tired sigh. “They ran as soon as you said ‘bath’,” he said, “you know how much they both hate them.”

“Oh...right,” Allura said with a pout.

Shiro changed into his human form that now had purple hair. “I’ll go get them,” he said with a wave of his hand. “You go get the bath started.”

“Right,” Allura said as she shut her book.

Next time she was so getting a towel.

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Allura finished rubbing Hunk’s fur dry before she pulled away the towel. “There, you’re all done!”

Hunk’s fur, once again a shimmering black, puffed out before he shook off the remaining water.

“At least we got you and Shiro done,” Allura commented as she set the towel aside. 

Granted, Lance was clean now as well, but he simply refused to leave the bath. He had to be the first cat she had ever encountered that loved water. He had been the first to jump into the tub before Allura even turned on the tap. Coran had taken upon the task to wash him while Allura had attended to washing Shiro. However, despite being clean, Lance decided he rather spend his time diving into the water and then rolling onto his back as he swam. He reminded Allura pictures of otters she had seen from one of her books in the library.

Allura decided to let Lance stay in there and began to wash Hunk as both Shiro and Coran wen to search for Keith and Pidge. Neither had dared poked their heads into the bathroom since their escape earlier.

Once he was dry, Shiro had shifted in his human form and volunteer to retrieve them as Allura went to wash Hunk. She had to wonder how he was making out with that challenge.

“Alright,” Allura declared as she hung the towel to dry, “now I would like to wash Pidge and Keith, but I need to find them first.”

“Shiro has been gone for a bit,” Coran said as he grasped his chin, “perhaps I should go and check-”

Suddenly, a yowl was heard. Shiro, in his cat form, came charging in while he carried an irritated Pidge dangling from his mouth. Allura took a step back as Shiro jumped to the edge of the tub and dropped her into the water.

Allura and Coran shielded themselves from the splash as Lance swam over to where Pidge poked her grumpy head out of the water. She spun around in the water and shook a soggy paw in Shiro’s direction.

Grinning, Shiro shifted back into his human form and grinned. “Hey, if you just agreed to come I wouldn’t have needed to carry you.”

Allura did her best not to giggle as she grabbed hold of Pidge with one hand and the bottle of shampoo with the other. “Now all you need is to find Keith.”

Shiro sucked the air between his teeth. “Yeah, he’s going to be a bit harder to corral.” He gestured for Hunk as he left. “I’m probably going to need some backup if you don’t mind.”

Hunk gave a meow as he shook off the remaining drops of water and chased after him.

“Right, and while they do that,” Coran as as he crossed his arms and eyed Lance. “I do believe it’s time for you to get out of there.”

Lance shook his head and continue to paddle joyfully in the tub.

“I would take that as a ‘No’,” Allura commented as she scrubbed Pidge despite her growls.

Coran sighed dramatically as he shrugged. “Alright, then I guess I can assume Lance wants nothing to do with the chicken I was going to offer him then.”

Lance ceased paddling, twitched his whiskers as his eyes locked onto Coran.

“Oh yes, the leftovers from dinner last night,” Coran said as he stroked his mustache. “Turns out we do have some left and I was going to offer it to you, but perhaps I’ll eat it if you don’t want-”

Lance scrambled to climb out of the tub, not caring he was splashing Allura in the process, and meowed frantically as he wrapped his slim body around Coran’s legs.

“I shall take that means you’ve changed your mind,” Coran said with a laugh as he scooped up Lance and dried him with a towel. “Do you need anything else, Allura?”

“No, I’m fine- Pidge keep still!” She tried to keep her hold on Pidge’s back as she squirmed. “The more you squirm the longer it takes.”

Pidge meowed fiercely and didn’t hold back the frantic splashes as Allura scrubbed in more soap.

“Very well, and I’ll get a pot of tea brewing,” Coran said as he carried a purring Lance out of the bathroom and hung the towel. “I believe we both could use some after this.”

Pidge growled as Allura prepared to wash her paws. “A cup of tea along a glass of wine,” she grumbled.

Eventually after several more minutes of washing, Pidge accepted her fate and allowed Allura to finish cleaning the colours off. Once she was done, Pidge jumped out of the tub and shook off the water before she dashed out of the room.

Allura sighed as she reached for a towel to dry herself off.

“So that only leaves Keith,” he muttered as she wiped her hands, “I wonder how Shiro is making out.”

She received her answer exactly ten seconds later as a large paw entered the bathroom doorway. In his lion form, Shiro entered as he carried Keith by the scruff of his neck like a kitten. Keith silently glared at Allura as Shiro carried him to the tub and dropped him in.

As Keith scowled with his head poking out of the water, Allura glanced to Shiro with a raised eyebrow. “Dare I ask why you had to take that form?”

Shiro shifted back into his human form with a small smirk on his face. “Honestly, it was just easier.” Keith growled as Shiro reached for a cloth. “I’ll wash Keith if you could grab a dry towel for him.”

“That’s fair,” Allura said as she handed one over to him.

Keith squirmed and hissed as Shiro began to scrub. “The more you move, buddy, the longer this will take,” Shiro retorted. “You’ll thank us later.”

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Later, Keith tugged at the streak of red that still remained in his black hair and kicked at Shiro’s leg. “Thank you later, huh? My hair still has that red in it.”

Shiro rolled his eyes as he ruffled Keith’s hair. “That’s because you wouldn’t stop trying to escape. There’s only so much I can do.”

“Shiro’s right,” Allura said as she sat in her chair with a cut of tea. “You only have yourself blame for that.”

Keith pouted and buried himself under the blanket Coran had given him. He glanced to the other cats who had all decided to stay in cat form and were currently warming off in front of the fireplace.

Keith would have normally joined them, but as soon as Shiro let him out of the bathtub Keith morphed into his human form to ensure they couldn’t give him another bath against his will. He knew he was being paranoid, but he refused to take the chance.

Coran whistled as he set a fresh blanket in front of the cats and crossed his arms. “There, after that ordeal, I believe a nice quiet evening is in order.” He glanced to the window and winced. “Especially since it is still raining.”

Keith gave a silent nod in agreement. He had gotten wet enough today, thank you very much.

He watched Hunk, Lance and Pidge drap themselves over the blanket and then rolled to their sides so their bellies were exposed to the warmth of the fire.

“Well, that must feel good,” Allura commented with a grin.

“Yeah, it does,” Shiro said as he poked Keith’s shoulder. “Right, Keith?”

Keith narrowed his eyes as he wrapped the blanket around himself tighter.

Coran gave a bemused smile as he leaned over him. “You know, Keith, I plan to bring out some tea and then some leftover chicken I thought would be nice to nibble on in front of the fire.”

Keith twitched. Dang it, he loved chicken.

Shiro rolled his eyes. “Ah, come on, Keith. You know you want to enjoy the fire like everyone else. Just relax.”

Keith sighed as he dropped the blanket. “Fine, I’ll lay in front of the fire too.” He gave a smirk as he stood and eyed Shiro. “But first, payback.”

Keith morphed into his lion form, and before Shiro could escape he pounced. He firmly pinned Shiro to the ground and let him struggle to try to shove him off.

Allura giggled as she covered her mouth as the other cats snickered in amusement.

Keith flicked his tail. There, now we’re even. He licked at Shiro’s hair with his large tongue, before he jumped off, returned to his cat form and took the place between Lance and Pidge in front of the fire.

Shiro sighed as he tugged at his hair. “”Gee, thanks, I might need another bath now.”

Keith gave a meow in response as he shut his eyes in front of the warm fire.


End file.
